I appreciate anyone pointing out where a bone Kangling may be available in the U.S. for T'hroma Chod retreat next month. There is one practitioner coming in from GOA with an extra. However there are additional practitioners, including me that have not yet connected up with one. Lama Dawa is strict (in a very good way) and the resin/wood ones are not applicable.

No jokes about digging up Grandma's bones please. I've buried enough relatives and last week had a lady at one dharma supply yell at me for even asking about the bone ones. I did reply that I know jail is like so she does not have to yell..

An average male femur is 19 inches and a female is 17. The femurs being sold are as short as 8 inches long. They are neither from condemned criminals or 16 year old Brahmin girls. They are not authentic. Most were robbed from Christian graves. Some are obviously from children.

Not sure who you're replying to. The knagling at the Tara Mandala shop are all from eastern Bhutan and have the Bhutanese custom seals still on them. They come from a group that practices water burial. However, as devout Buddhists, they believe it is meritorious to offer they're thighbones and kapalas for other Buddhists to use. They are prepared by local ngakpa/gomchen in a multi-step process that takes several months. They have a number of different as well as both right and left femurs.

Nemo wrote:An average male femur is 19 inches and a female is 17. The femurs being sold are as short as 8 inches long. They are neither from condemned criminals or 16 year old Brahmin girls. They are not authentic. Most were robbed from Christian graves. Some are obviously from children.

I doubt She will be pleased with your disgusting offerings.

So where is the problem with the bones being from Christian graves? Here in Greece people are only buried for five years and then the remains are dug up, cleaned and either placed in boxes and stored (for a fee) at the cemetery grounds or thrown into a hole along with other unclaimed remains (or the remains of those whose family cannot afford tht "rent" to have them stored). If one was to use these bones would the offerings be disgusting? I mean, really, the chodpa of old would just find the bones scattered in charnel grounds anyway. How would they know who the bones came from and if they were a Buddhist or not?

Hello. I am a collector of American Indian Artifacts from the mid-1800's. One person who I bought from was married to a Potowatami Indian. Anyway, he became very, very ill and needed to sell some of his possessions. He collected a number of unusual items. As he had been kind to me over the years, I bought several items from him, some of which were unknown to me. I discovered that one of the items I bought is a very,very old Tibetan Kangling. The bone is black with age. The "ball" is covered in silver as is the end, with a small coral appearing inset. After searching the web and visiting the Natural History Museum in Chicago, I can say it is the oldest I have seen. It is in very good condition. I can't imagine how old it is buy my guess is that it is several hundred years old. I found this site and thought that it might be a place where I could find a buyer who has an appropriate use for this, someone who will treat it with the respect that it deserves being part of someone at some time and obviously handed down for many generations. If you are interested, please contact me and I will send photographs. Serious inquiries only please. Lahontaa@aol.com. Regards. Bob